Qestion About Seperating Stamps To Populate Album

Hello,


I recently inherited a stamp collection and am trying to get started at the wonderful hobby. My question is that there are some places in my album that show a single stamp where I may have a book, block, or maybe even a sheet. I understand that it would probably be a bad thing to break up a sheet, but if I have four connected stamps if I separate one to put in my album does it hurt it's value? If not in what scenario would it hurt the value? I will post some pics to illustrate the exact situation. Thanks for any help given!!!

Hi apaks, and welcome to the club. Generally a block is worth more than the individual stamps, especially in your case. Your block is a plate number block. A Scott catalog would tell you the exact worth

Peter

@Petert4522

Thanks for your reply. To clarify if I separate the top 4 from the bottom 4 that would be a mistake? Is the value hurt from the "act" of separating them or would it just be hurt if I got rid of the other 4. I plan on keeping the other 4 just in a separate place. Or bending the other 4 back and use a spilt back mount. Please excuse my ignorance. I'm not hung up on the value necessarily I'm collecting more for fun, but I don't want to ruin the value just to fill the spot. I hope that makes sense. Thank you.

Modern US has little value except as postage. I say break to your hearts content.

If you collect corner or numbered plate blocks I would not break it and leave it as is. Since it will probably never be worth much more than face in our lifetime in my opinion, I would break it into two strips of 4. Otherwise why not just purchase a strip of four, probably easily and cheaply available and mount them in a mount cut long enough to cover all four of the individual images in one piece.

And since your new, welcome to the forum. I hope you enjoy!

The single stamp you require to fit that space, is cheap as chips, it will arrive in $5 collections of 100 stamps.

I would keep the block.
I never break down a block, no matter what.

The rub is, your album does not accommodate blocks, requiring you to make an album page.

Since you have a block of 8, you actually have two plate blocks. You could separate the two blocks vertically at the middle. Then separate one block into individual stamps. That way you could collect both the singles and a block of all 4 designs. But in the end, you must decide for yourself how you want to collect. There is no right or wrong way, just your way.

You will find multiple designs in one sheet are typically listed and collected as blocks. The album shown doesn't allow you that option/luxury, so perhaps a separate page is the answer. However, there are a lot of US issues like that so you will be replacing a lot of pages if you do so. There are also US issues with 50 different designs in a pane of 50 that won't fit as a whole on most album pages.

Per rodgcam, because of being relatively common recent mint US, it is not going to make much difference if ever sold. I suppose then the decision to be made is: do you want to follow collector practice or do you want to follow what your album has?

And don't fold this in half and put it in a mount. Any moisture/humidity over time and you'll have the block stuck to itself, stamp mount or not.

As a general rule it is bad idea to break up blocks and strips.
I love that album page by the way.
I have really had two incarnations as a Stamp Collector. The first circa 1962 to 2001 I became increasingly obsessive. And in my second 2012 to date, I am much more relaxed about it all.
I identify with your question because I used to worry about such things. For example a strip of four stamps might have been numbered 1001, 1002, 1003, 1004 in a catalogue but my four might be in the sequence 1003, 1004, 1001, 1002.
In my first incarnation, I would have broken the four stamps up and put them in the album in "the right order" to conform with the catalogue.
Now I would not do that.
A catalogue shuld be a guide, not a tyranny.
LIkewise a pre-printed album should only be a guide.
Indeed even an unprinted album can be problematic. I recall in 1965 and 1966 Britain issued a strip of six stamps (Battle of Britain and Battle of Hastings)one of which (I cant recall which one) was too "long" to go into a traditional album. Thus we see these stamps mounted diagonally across an album page and it just doesnt look "right".
My advice about "rules" is that we should make up our own. It took me over 40 years to work that out.

FitzjamesHorse has given good advice along with the others, it is your collection now and make it up to suit yourself. You are wise to have asked here as the advice and knowledge here is considerable.

Many thanks to everyone who responded! It makes collecting so much more enjoyable to elevate the stress that I may be destroying value or putting something in the wrong place. I will now go forward armed with a little more knowledge about this amazing hobby. Thanks again.

aparks454,
I see that you are near Gallitin, TN. The Nashville Philatelic Society is a good group and meets at the Inglewood Library. I suggest that you attend a few of their meetings. There will be a few old collectors that are wonderful, a couple old coots, a few snobs that only collect such and such, but mostly normal folks that like stamps. OK, I am joking, I have not been to the Nashville club in a few decades but that could be said of most clubs.

My observation would be that it's easy to get hung up on "value" and then miss the point of collecting. For me, putting together the contents of the album and making the pages complete and attractive is the whole point. You are building a collection to enjoy, not putting money in a money box. I don't personally care if my block is (supposedly) worth a dollar less, if my album page looks good as a result.

Before you break up any modern blocks or sheets, check the price in a current U.S. Specialized catalog.

Many of the issues after 2000 are cataloging more than the standard "double" face value.

If it's just double FV, break it up if you want. If it's more, keep it intact.

Modern USA is so common, I vote for doing what makes you happy.

This is a situation where you're changing your stamps to fit the preprinted album. The nice thing about printing your own pages is that you don't have to make those niggling decisions.

BUT please never break up a block of classic material or remove the selvage, pencil the backs or alter them in any way.